


“i love you”

by nepenthess



Series: drunk (and) in love [3]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Love at First Sight, Modern AU, Morally Grey Character, assassin!genji au, i guess??, its basically just a present day au except genji kills people for a living lol, kinda inspired by eros and psyche, prequel of this series
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-27
Updated: 2019-10-30
Packaged: 2020-03-20 13:54:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18993955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nepenthess/pseuds/nepenthess
Summary: “Well, what are you waiting for? Kill her.”Genji hesitated. She had startlingly blue eyes, as blue as the ocean.“I can’t.”On the other line, McCree scoffed. “And why the hell not?”“She - she’s beautiful.”The cowboy paused.“Oh, for heaven’s sake.”❅in which love at first sight introduces problems when you’re supposed to be a cold-hearted assassin.





	1. in which genji doesn’t pull the metaphorical trigger

**Author's Note:**

> hi i’m redacted and welcome to jackass!
> 
> i actually wanted to finish this story before i posted the first chapter but o well :”) updates will most likely be pretty slow. 
> 
> so this is the prequel of my drunk (and) in love series and will be set in a modern au except genji’s an assassin
> 
> this precedes the other two “i ____ you” angst fics, so this will be on how genji and angela Got Together in the first place :D  
> hope you enjoy it!

“Three million dollars.”

“You are joking.” 

“I’m not.” Jesse McCree casually lit a small cigarillo, like he hadn’t been talking about the very paycheck that could set the two of them up for life.

Genji scoffed. “Right. So who is it this time? Major cartel boss? Prime minister of an small country? Some random celebrity?”

Tossing his shurikens up into the air absentmindedly, he eyed Jesse, not really believing him.

“Nope.” The cowboy said, popping the ‘p’. “It’s a Swiss doctor.”

Genji sat up, interested. “Did he happen to invent the cure for cancer?”

McCree puffed out smoke. “She invented biotic nanotechnology.” 

The ninja hummed. He could see why she was so valuable. Biotic nanotech had saved millions of lives, himself included.

This was a breath of fresh air, seeing that every single assignment he’d gotten so far either had bodyguards with them 24/7 or were highly trained in self-defence. Occasionally both, which was a nightmare to handle.

Meanwhile, a doctor was unlikely to even have touched a weapon in her entire life. 

Genji stilled his movements.

This did, however, raise a few questions.

“Who would want to kill a doctor?” 

McCree shrugged, taking in a long drag. “Gabe wouldn’t tell me. All I know is that they’re willing to pay big bucks to kill some old hag dead.” 

She probably didn’t deserve whatever fate was going to befall her. Actually, she definitely didn’t deserve her fate, considering she basically invented accelerated and painless healing and distributed it to the world free-of-charge - or so he had heard.

_Three million dollars._

A shame.

Genji exhaled and stowed his shurikens. “When do we leave?”

* * *

Genji took a seat in the warm café, pretending to be engrossed in a book. 

McCree’s voice crackled in his earpiece. “At least try to look believable.” 

Scoffing, Genji mumbled under his breath, “Says the person who once got fired from his fake job as a waiter.” 

“Hey, my accent was dead-on.”

“Keep telling yourself that, McCree.” 

“You -” Jesse stopped. “She’s coming.” 

Genji’s eyes snapped from his book to the door, where a young, blonde woman had walked in, but from where he was sitting he could only see her back. 

“Where?” He hissed into his comlink. 

“There! The blonde!” McCree hissed back, words laced with urgency. 

“That’s her? You said she was some old hag!” 

“I said that two days ago! I showed you a picture of her.”

Genji’s brow furrowed. “No, you didn’t.” 

“I did, Shimada.” 

“When?”

“It doesn’t matter! Let’s just focus on killing her and getting our pay, shall we?” Jesse said, more impatience in his slow drawl than usual.

Genji shifted, hefting his shurikens as he studied the blonde, eyes shifting underneath his shades. He knew exactly how she would move, could predict every possible position. He knew exactly when and where to strike.

Just then, she turned, and he _froze_.

He froze in his thoughts, his movements, his calculations. It was like time paused in that second when he saw her properly.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Kill her.” 

Genji hesitated. She had startlingly blue eyes, as blue as the ocean.

“I can’t.” 

_Her lips look like pink candy. And oh, so soft._

On the other line, McCree scoffed. “And why the hell not?”

_Her nose is so cute._

“She - she’s beautiful.”

The cowboy paused. 

“Oh, for heaven’s sake.”

* * *

“I don’t understand what’s so hard about it. Just aim for her jugular and throw your little ninja stars.” 

“Shut up.” Genji tried his best to look casual, focusing on the book in his hands. “You don’t understand.” 

“I think I do. You see a pretty face and all of a sudden you develop a conscience.” Jesse snorted, the exhale of air a crackle in Genji’s earpiece. “Please.”

“It’s not that, Jesse!” 

McCree was silent, but Genji could practically hear him rolling his eyes. 

“She’s a doctor! She’s done nothing wrong!” 

“Well, you’ve never had a problem with killing before.” 

“That was because they were bad people. Criminals.” 

“Politicians aren’t criminals.”

“You were the one who killed that presidential candidate. Not me.”

Jesse huffed. “Don’t get all holier-than-thou on me. You still helped, didn’t you?” 

Genji looked up, eyes trained on the doctor. By now, she had gotten her coffee and was sitting down at a table meant for two, blowing on her coffee as she tried to focus on her computer. A lock of golden hair fell in her face. Glaring upwards, she blew it back up, and Genji’s heart skipped a beat.

She looked downright adorable, if he was telling the truth.

It wasn’t like him to be like this. Fine, it had something to do with that pretty face, but he was professional enough to look past that. 

He noticed the way her eyes crinkled with humour and her lips lifted slightly as she typed quickly, taking sips as she went. 

He looked down at his hands. He was tired, truth be told. All this blood on his hands didn’t help him sleep at night. He was young, not even in his thirties yet, but he already felt like he was decades older. 

He needed a break.

 _And that’s why you need those three million bucks,_ a thought occurred to him.

Damn. 

His fingers twitched, his shurikens smooth in his grasp. It’d be so easy. So, so easy. One simple flick of his wrist and he’d be gone out the window, without a trace as she bled to death.

No one would know. 

McCree’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “Time to make your choice, Shimada. Either kill her, or give up that three mill’.” 

Genji studied the way she licked her lips after taking a sip of coffee. 

Standing up, he made his way out of the café, shurikens safely concealed in his sleeves. 

“Motherfu -” was all he heard as Jesse disconnected from the voice channel.


	2. in which genji finds that jesse can be kind of an asshole

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> of course the cowboy isn’t okay with letting his three million go.

It had been two weeks since the failed mission.

Two weeks since Jesse stopped talking to him.

Two weeks since he saw _her_. 

As he had found out through a simple Google search, her name was Angela, and the more he browsed through photos of her, the more fitting the name seemed.

He imagined how small she would feel in his arms, how melodious her voice would sound, how sweet she would taste… 

As he leaned back in his chair, more relaxed than he had been in a while, his eyelids drooping, he drifted off, lazily dreaming up fantasies and scenarios.

All that was on his mind was the sweet doctor he hadn’t talked to yet. 

If you had asked him a year ago - hell, maybe even just three weeks ago - if he believed in love at first sight, he would’ve scoffed in your face and told him to screw off.

But now he wasn’t so sure. 

Was it really love? Could you really be in love after just seeing someone for the first time? 

Or maybe it was just physical. Skin-deep attraction. Lust at first sight.

Honestly, it didn’t seem like that to him. His feelings weren’t just because of how she looked. 

Genji couldn’t deny that Angela was probably the most attractive woman he’d ever seen, but he could feel that it was more than that.

He had done his research on her (not in a creepy way, though) and he appreciated the goodwill and heart she had that so many other people lacked in this day and age. 

Other people like him.

Well, opposites were supposed to attract, right?

Genji sighed deeply.

This was confusing, to say the least. Feeling lost romantically was a fairly new experience for him, seeing as that he usually had little to no  
problem with objects of his affection. He owed that to his good looks and charm. 

Just then, his phone vibrated on the table. 

Opening one eye lazily, he stretched out his hand and with a bit of difficulty, managed to grab it, turning it on to check his messages. 

As soon as his brain processed the text that was sent a mere minute ago, his eyes snapped fully open and he shot up, grabbed his shurikens and his wallet, and practically ran out of the apartment.

Jesse McCree had broken his radio silence to text him one simple, cryptic sentence: 

_since you couldn’t be trusted to collect on the assignment, i will._

* * *

It was only after he had left his apartment that Genji realised he had no idea where Jesse or Angela was. 

Genji could track Jesse’s location using Google Maps, as they’d both decided that it would be best for them to know where each other was at all times if they were to be partners-in-crime. 

But there was no way Jesse hadn’t turned it off by now. 

Genji groaned, cussing out McCree in his head. The cowboy just wanted to spit in his face and make him panic by texting him. 

He could understand his reasons for trying again, though. Well, his reason. There was only really one reason for it. 

The paycheck.

The ninja shook his head and forced himself to focus on the task at hand. He could try to search each place Angela and Jesse could be at, but that would take way too long.

Wait - 

Unless… his “last seen” was near his destination? 

It was worth a shot.

He took out his phone and checked Jesse’s location, and according to the signal sent five minutes ago, he was at the bakery, which was five minutes away from the café.

If he ran at his top speed, he could reach there in three minutes.

His phone vibrated in his hand, and he unlocked it to see a new message from Jesse. 

_well, better get runnin._

Genji cursed and took off. God, his timing was so good.

* * *

Slipping inside the small café, Genji scanned the room for Jesse or Angela, his breathing heavier than normal.

When he couldn’t spot either immediately, his heart rate increased significantly, chest thumping wildly. Was he too late?

Out the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a head of shining gold hair and a flash of kind blue eyes, and let out a breath of relief. Now all he had to worry about was Jesse. 

Speaking of -

Where _was_ he?

He wasn’t in the queue, not in the bathrooms, not at a table… After checking every inch of the café, Genji could confirm that Jesse was, in fact, not inside the café itself.

Which could only mean he was outside, probably set up at a sniper perch somewhere. He’d probably seen Genji sprint in, too. 

Now all he had to do was wait for Angela to exit the café.

Jesse was a trained sniper. Genji had seen him shoot before, and he didn’t miss. _Best shot in the west,_ the cowboy had boasted once, _it didn’t just apply to my revolver skills._

Being a sniper also meant you had to have patience - something Genji didn’t have a lot of. Rather than wait for a target to walk into a set of crosshairs, he liked to confront them and get it over with. 

By right, Jesse was supposed to go on the original mission to assassinate Angela, since a bullet was faster and cleaner than a shuriken, but he had been on guy-in-the-chair duty due to a run-in with an unidentified but very skilled archer.

Now, Genji considered it a blessing that he had went instead of Jesse. 

The archer’s parting gifts to McCree had been a nasty wound on his thigh and a bruised wrist, which probably had healed by now, no doubt with the help of biotic nanotechnology. 

The ninja ‘tsk’ed and shook his head. How ironic. Jesse had healed faster with the help of the woman he wanted to assassinate.

He observed Angela from a distance, trying his beanie to look suspicious or creepy. She was alone and seemed to be waiting for her coffee, eyes glued onto her computer screen.

Her golden hair was pulled into a messy ponytail and there were dark circles under her eyes, her lack of sleep showing. She looked pretty but tired. 

Resisting the urge to go over there and hug her (she just looked so soft and cute, okay), he placed his elbow on the table so he could support his head and just gazed at her as inconspicuously as possible.

And that’s how the next twenty minutes went.

Good thing snipers were supposed to be patient.


	3. in which genji gets shot and bleeds a lot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Genji tries to deflect. It doesn’t go so well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uhhh this chapter is pretty dodgy to me ngl but i hope you enjoy it :’)

Genji doesn’t really remember how it happened. Things happened way too fast for even himself to recall exactly how it all went. 

All he knows for certain is that he, forgetting himself as usual, dashed in front of Angela, and deflected. 

Or, well, _tried_ to deflect. 

He wasn’t sure where exactly Jesse was, so he ended up deflecting nothing, and the bullet went straight between his blade and his arm - 

And into his shoulder.

No matter how many times he heard sniper fire, he’d never get used to it. The sound was deafening, almost like a mini sonic boom. 

It felt like time slowed, and he could hear his heartbeat in his ears, but everything else surrounding him fell silent, like someone had pressed a deafen button on his ears. It was comparable to the feeling of being underwater; everything that happened afterwards sounded like it was far away.

He vaguely remembered Angela’s shocked gasp behind him.

He’d been shot before, sure, but he couldn’t say he’d ever had the pleasure of being shot in his right shoulder with a fully-charged sniper shot.

He could smell the blood, and immediately felt the pressure in his shoulder. Numbness washed over the wound, but soon gave way to a hot, burning sensation. It was comparable to a firecracker shooting through his shoulder.

The other times he’d been shot, Genji didn’t realise it at first, but this time, he was fully aware and had even been half-expecting it.

Knowing didn’t much help the pain, though.

Behind him, he could sort of feel Angela’s hands on him, supporting his weight as he staggered back. He could hear her muffled voice, probably asking if he was alright. 

His vision blurred, and through his foggy eyesight, he could vaguely see a lump of black moving further away, out of his line of sight. 

Right, so he guessed they really weren’t friends anymore, given that Jesse had just shot him and ran away.

He slumped fully on Angela, his legs almost giving out. 

Looking down at his shoulder, all he could see was red, staining his hands and his clothes, blood flowing from the wound. He felt light-headed.

Usually, he’d be able to handle the pain of a single bullet, but again, even his high tolerance for pain wasn’t really a match for a bullet shot by Jesse McCree’s fully-charged sniper rifle.

He groaned, and somehow, through all the fog in his mind, he managed to make out “hospital” in the doctor’s calm but hasty words.

He raised his right hand by instinct and immediately dropped it, the simple movement proving to be too painful. “No - no hospitals,” He slurred, words feeling like stones in his mouth. 

The doctor’s eyebrows furrowed. “Alright,” She said slowly, keeping her calm.

Genji screwed his eyes shut and threw his head back, swearing inwardly. It took all the restraint he had to keep from passing out at that very second, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to control himself much longer.

Besides, passing out sounded really good right now. Sleep sounded like heaven to his pain-addled brain. 

He squinted his eyes, trying his best to focus his vision so he could grab onto Angela’s hand. 

He locked eyes with Angela, his vision swimming, and managed a “please”.

He wasn’t even sure what he was asking for, but before he could think too much, he lost consciousness, drifting into a dreamless sleep, and his pain faded into an aching throb at the back of his mind.

* * *

Genji drifted into consciousness slowly, eyelids fluttering slowly as he shifted into alert mode, which consisted of a set of questions he had trained himself over the years to think about whenever he woke up somewhere unfamiliar.

Where was he? What time was it? What happened? Did he require backup or reinforcements? Why was he here? Was he armed? Was he safe? 

Okay.

He opened his eyes and made a move to sit up so he could try to think clearly, but a sharp pain in his shoulder prevented him from doing so. 

Wincing, he eased himself into an upright position. Right, he had gotten shot. By Jesse. Well, that was one of the questions answered.

Genji looked down to see himself dressed in a linen pair of pyjamas. Huh. He’d kind of expected a typical hospital gown. 

As he felt around, a sneaking sense of respect and surprise that had been shooting up like saplings solidified in his stomach.

All of his concealed weapons were gone. 

Really. All of them. 

The extra shurikens he carried on his waistband, the tiny, sheathed knife he wore as a necklace, the dagger he had strapped to his chest, _everything_.

Okay, so he was surprisingly not armed.

There was a window on the far right of the plain, vaguely sterile room, and judging by the sky, it seemed to be about four p.m. or later. 

He could sort of remember Angela half-carrying, half-dragging him in the general direction of other people after he got shot, but trying to remember the rest made the space behind his eyeballs ache.

Looking around, the simple room seemed more like a guest bedroom than a hospital ward.

It should be okay to assume that she had heard his pleas for no hospitals, and had either brought him to her house or a private clinic.

He was safe. 

_He was safe._

As that thought processed, he reflexively relaxed, mind less on guard. Slumping slightly, he leant into the large pillow at his back, and it was only then when he realised how parched he was.

His throat felt like it was lined with sandpaper, and the cotton mouth really just added to the problem. 

Genji threw the covers off him, wincing just barely this time, and just as he was mustering the strength to bear the pain so he could get a drink, Angela walked in, saw him, _rushed_ to his side, a tornado of white and gold, and immediately placed a hand on his chest, stopping him from moving.

Genji was suddenly very aware of the warm, small hand on his chest, and despite his best efforts to control himself, a flush spread across his cheeks.

He wasn’t shy towards the opposite sex. He wasn’t a total playboy (he couldn’t be, given his job) but he knew a few things. 

And so there was absolutely no good reason why _he couldn’t stop blushing._

While he was trying to get himself under control, Angela took his hand and checked his pulse. Pulling away after she was satisfied, she inspected his wound, checking the bandage and murmuring softly to herself as she went.

He wasn’t really sure what she was doing, because all he could focus on was her face, and her eyes, and her hair, and her fingers, and her lips, and _her_.

Finally, she pulled back, giving him a soft smile that just about made his heart melt. “You’re making progress.” 

She had a slight accent to her voice that he couldn’t really place, but it only added to her charm.

Genji had so many questions. Where exactly was he? How long was he out? Where were his weapons?

She handed him a glass of water which he graciously accepted, bowing his head as he pushed the questions to the back of his mind in favour of the water, and gazed at him with watchful eyes. 

“You’ve been out for around four to six hours,” She supplied, as if she could read his mind.

Genji finished the glass of water and nodded, suddenly feeling afraid to speak under her cool stare.

“So,” She started, “You’re clearly not just a normal civilian.”

He shook his head no.

“Okay.” She surveyed him, eyes sweeping over his face. He doubted she hadn’t already observed him when he was out, but he still felt kind of intimidated and nervous.

“Who are you?” She burst out.

It definitely wouldn’t be a good idea to tell a doctor that he was an assassin who was supposed to kill her, right?

When Genji remained silent, she took the chance to bombard him with more questions, stepping closer to the bed. “Who was trying to kill me? Why were they trying to kill me?” 

The assassin opened his mouth…then closed it again. It was no surprise that a person as intelligent as her had figured that the bullet was meant for her head and not his shoulder, but how was he supposed to explain the situation tactfully and eloquently?

She continued to press him, leaning in, eyes dead-set on his as she spoke.

“And why did you save me?”

His mind was blank. 

There was absolutely no way to get out of this one. No escape route, no elaborate lie, no running.

He had to tell the truth.

Genji ran his fingers through his hair out of habit, and winced when sparks of pain shot through his right shoulder. 

He looked at Angela, then averted his eyes.

She was like the sun. There was no way he could look at her directly while he said this, and he was sure he would get blinded if he looked too hard. 

Looking down with a small, almost timid smile, he said, “Well, it’s kind of a long story…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello i am SO SO sorry this is so late even though i don’t have an update schedule i still feel bad for making readers wait so long esp since i know half have already clicked off once they saw i’m only 2 chapters in hrjkrkr anyways i would like to say that the only reason i took so long was because i spent a decent amount of time researching about Guns & Shit but id be lying :’)  
> anyway thank you so so much for reading and i hope you have a nice day :DD


	4. in which angela meets someone who got shot and is bleeding a lot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> angela meets a hot guy who coincidentally got shot by a bullet meant for her. (it sounds better than it actually is.)

Even after hours on end of pondering over exactly what happened the day she first met Genji Shimada, Angela still couldn’t really tell you the precise details of what had happened.

(If only there was some sort of technology that could connect to someone’s hippocampus and replay memories. She’d have to ask Torbjörn about creating a system for that.)

All she knows for sure is that there was a gunshot and a mass of black and green appeared in front of her, shielding her from whatever was happening. 

She’d thought it could’ve been an armed robbery at first, but she reasoned that the gunshot was way too loud to be at the bank a few blocks away. 

She didn’t expect that the shot was meant for her, and that the mystery someone in front of her had gotten shot in her place.

She gasped.

The man swayed a bit after the shot sounded, and stumbled back into her awaiting arms.

The sword that she didn’t even notice he’d been holding clattered to the ground.

She caught him easily and found that he’d been shot in the shoulder. Not the worst bullet wound she’d ever seen, but certainly not the best either.

She whipped her head up to see someone dressed entirely in black moving steadily out of her line of sight, carrying something that looked suspiciously like a gun. No use running after him now.

She looked down at the injured man, keeping her voice as calm and steady as possible. 

“Sir, can you hear me?”

His eyes flicked to her, and she took that as a response.

“Everything’s alright. Just going to inspect your injury, okay? Please remain still.” 

She tried to examine his shoulder, avoiding moving his arm as much as possible, but he still groaned.

There was a clean exit wound on his back; it really did look worse than it actually was. That being said, she hadn’t seen this severe a gunshot wound in a while. 

Nothing she couldn’t handle, though.

Taking off her thin cotton sweater, she improvised and making a makeshift bandage, began to apply pressure to stem the flow of blood.

She glanced at his face to see how he was doing.

His eyes were wild and unfocused, his mouth open as he panted, staring. She was surprised he hadn’t passed out yet.

“Listen, everything’s fine. I’m going to get you to a hospital, okay? Everything’s going to be okay -”

To her confusion, the man shook his head. Shivers wracked through his body as he tried to focus on her, but giving up and closing his eyes. 

“No hospitals,” He rasped out, slurring his words slightly. He had an accent that she didn’t have the time to place.

Her eyebrows furrowed. Why not a hospital? 

Nevertheless, she nodded. 

“Alright.”

He shut his eyes tightly, throwing his head back. His face was a sheet of pale ivory, contrasting deeply with his bloodstained clothes.

He squinted, staring straight at her, grabbed her arm and murmured a single, small “please” before passing out.

That left her alone in an old shirt, bloody hands wrapped tightly around an unconscious stranger’s shoulder, while a small crowd of people had gathered to gawk at the scene unfolding right in front of their very own eyes.

Angela considered her options. Did she have enough strength, speed, and stamina to carry him back to her place, which was a seven-minute walk, quick enough so he doesn’t bleed out along the way?

Hm.

Facing at the crowd while still holding him, she raised her voice. “Would anyone be willing to drive me home?”

* * *

Angela gazed at the young man’s face, trying to imprint the lines and grooves of his face into her memory. Fareeha would describe his face as regal, an old kind of beautiful, with features like a dashing prince from ancient Japan. 

It’d been an hour or so after she’d managed to stabilise him, but the questions popping up in her head didn’t cease a bit.

Who was he? 

Who was he working for? 

Where did he come from?

Why did he save her?

She’d already deduced that he was some sort of bodyguard (or if her worst suspicions were true, a hitman), due to the excessive amount of dangerous weapons and small, hidden tools on his person. 

But a hitman wouldn’t put themselves in harm’s way for someone they barely knew.

So her only next logical answer was that he was a bodyguard, secretly assigned to her, and that he’d just done his job.

After all, it only made sense. With him jumping in front of her to take the bullet, there was a fairly good chance that the bullet was meant for her, not him. He’d just been doing his job as a bodyguard.

Of course, that only raised more questions. Who assigned him to her? Who was targeting her? Why him specifically?

Angela sighed, standing up. He’d been out for around four to six hours now, and there was really no telling when he was going to wake up. She stretched, feeling her bones crack, and made her way to the kitchen.

She poured some water into a glass absentmindedly, still allowing herself to dream up various, unrealistic possibilities while he was still unconscious.

She was just entertaining the idea of him being an heir to the throne of some obscure country who ran away to seek adventure and romance when she opened the door and realised two things.

A), that he was awake and sitting upright with the covers thrown hastily off him, looking like he was trying his best to stand up, and B), that he was even more handsome awake.

Her instincts as a doctor kicked in, and she rushed to his side, placing a hand on his (hard) chest to stop him from moving.

Feeling the warm muscle underneath her hand, she almost blushed but managed to keep her calm, controlling herself.

She was a doctor. A professional. It’s not like she hadn’t had attractive patients before. So why was he affecting her so badly?

_Focus._

She forced herself to avoid looking at his face, taking his pulse with her eyes firmly glued to his wrist, checking his wound to see how it had healed, and just going through the motions of her everyday life.

Once she concluded that he was doing fine, she pulled back and smiled at him, finding that compared to smiles she felt obliged to give some patients, this one felt much easier. “You’re making progress.”

He stared at her, expression unreadable.

She handed him the glass of water. He must be thirsty, after everything that happened today.

As he drank the water slowly, taking his time, she thought it’d be helpful if he knew how long he’d been here for. “You’ve been out for around four to six hours.”

He finished the water and nodded, unspeaking.

She made sure to keep her gaze as collected and probing as possible. “So, you’re clearly not a normal civilian.”

He shook his head. Angela examined him, sharp eyes almost unblinking. “Okay.”

_Okay, let’s get to the point._

Mustering all the courage she had, she burst out, “Who are you?”

He stayed silent, so she took this as her chance to interrogate him further, narrowing her eyes and leaning in. “Who was trying to kill me? Why were they trying to kill me?” 

The man opened his mouth, and promptly closed it. Had this been a different situation, she would have found the action endearing.

She locked her gaze on his, inching closer. “And why did you save me?” 

He sat in still silence for a while, until he ran his fingers through his hair and winced softly, looked at Angela, and just as quickly, looked away.

Angela waited, sky-blue eyes on him.

He looked down with a small, nearly-shy smile that made her heart flutter and thump in her chest, and start with, “Well, it’s kind of a long story…”, trailing off at the end as he glanced up expectantly.

(He sounded like he had a faint Japanese accent, but she could be wrong.)

Angela just smiled and sat down. “I have time.” 

And as the ninja regaled her with tales of his past, she found herself idly thinking about how this very situation could be the start of another long story she could tell in decades to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaaaa sorry i took such a long time to update!! i recently finished my finals and i’m trying to get back in the mood for writing but what with everything else happening i’ve been pretty busy and i don’t have much time or inspiration to write :// i’ll try my best tho!! i’m planning to finish this hopefully by the end of 2020, if everything goes smoothly!  
> thank you sm for reading and if you enjoyed this, feel free to leave kudos or a comment <3 have a nice day :DD

**Author's Note:**

> hoping to have the next part up in the next two weeks and hopefully i can stick to that deadline  
> thanks for reading & have a nice day :D


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